She felt her knees had turned to stone and couldn't bend them.
She was clinging to the last shred of her dignity.
Seeing her unmoving, Archie's patience ran out.
He stepped forward and kicked her hard behind the knees.
Vivian immediately lost her balance and fell violently onto the cold floor.
Her knees hit the floor with a dull thud; the pain was so sharp that her eyes grew dim.
"Apologize," Archie said again.
Vivian raised her head, looking through her tearful eyes at Archie, who was extremely ruthless.
At that moment, when he forced her to kneel, she was dead inside.
"I'm sorry," she heard herself say numbly.
She wasn't apologizing to Cassie, but to herself, who had recklessly fallen in love with a devil three years ago.
Astonished, Cassie struggled to get out of bed. "Archie, let Vivian get up! I forgive her, I truly do!"
Only then did Archie walk over to Vivian and roughly pull her up from the floor.
"Get out," he said to her.
Vivian didn't look at him, nor at Cassie. She limped out of the room like a puppet.
From that day on, Vivian never returned to that mansion.
She went back to her apartment, where she had lived before marrying Archie. She removed her SIM card and severed all ties with the world.
She submitted her resignation to the hospital and had a lawyer draft a divorce agreement.
She wanted nothing from the divorce.
She just wanted to escape from Archie and this suffocating place.
A month later, Archie hadn't even noticed Vivian's absence.
That day was Archie's birthday banquet.
The banquet was held at a top luxury hotel in Afosso, and many celebrities and socialites had been invited.
Dressed as a hotel staff member, with a mask and cap, Vivian moved through the crowd. She had placed the signed divorce agreement in an inconspicuous envelope, ready to hand it to Archie's assistant when she had the chance.
The stars of the evening were undoubtedly Archie and Cassie.
Archie was dressed in a tailored black suit, as handsome as a statue of a god. Beside him, Cassie wore a white gown, looking as innocently elegant as an angel.
Together, they looked like a perfect match.
For the first time, Vivian saw a gentle smile on Archie's face.
At the host's invitation, Archie led Cassie onto the stage. He took the microphone, his affectionate gaze fixed on her. "Tonight, I want to say thank you to Cassie, the most important person in my life. She is my angel. She brought light into my world."
Under the gaze of everyone here, he opened a velvet box. Inside, there was not a ring, but a necklace composed of countless dazzling pink diamonds.
"This is for you!" He personally adorned Cassie with it.
The room erupted in thunderous applause and cheers.
Cassie covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes brimming with tears.
Standing in the corner, Vivian watched the scene unfold, feeling a dull ache in her heart, leaving her breathless.
It turned out that he could be romantic; it was just that she wasn't the one he chose to be romantic with.
He wouldn't even want to talk to her, his lawful wife, on their anniversary, yet he prepared a grand display of affection for another woman.
Just then, the doors of the banquet hall were thrown open. A group of armed men stormed in, led by Archie's sworn enemy, Jonathan Buckley. "This is the end of yours, Archie Palmer!"